


Something infinitely interesting

by chaoticcollectorchaos_me



Series: Parabola [12]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, High School, M/M, POV Outsider, Peter can't keep his mouth shut, Precious Peter Parker, high school romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-06-09 15:44:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19479001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticcollectorchaos_me/pseuds/chaoticcollectorchaos_me
Summary: In the midst of trying to keep Peter alive and well as Spiderman and guarding their secret from their parents, getting a boyfriend was the last thing on Joe Rogers' mind.Even if said boy was the Alpha he has been in love with since he was nine years old.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really nervous about this one, because it focuses more on original characters than on the Marvel characters this series was built on. I hope you guys like the characters I've created and hopefully I did the high school romance trope some justice so it's not too cliche and too corny and too 'everything that we hate from a young adult novel'. 
> 
> I've been getting comments from you guys about wanting to see Joe being courted by an Alpha who was the complete opposite of him which caused Steve and Ulysses getting apoplectic about it. This is my attempt of that. There's not much of the overprotective Dad/older sibling trope here bc I was more focused on the character and world building. But I will definitely get to that! 
> 
> Title was taken from 'Echo' by Incubus. That song perfectly encapsulates the soft and unproblematic relationship I envision for Joe and Jamie.
> 
> Italics are words spoken in Italian.

There was nobody else in this world like Joe Rogers, Jamie Wilde had always thought so. Granted, he hadn’t met everybody in the world but Jamie’s pretty confident in his assertion of the fact. If anybody could point him in the direction of another Omega that could easily and flawlessly dress down a misogynistic football player, Jamie would eat his football cleats. Joe was the smartest boy in their class, there was no doubt about it. One of the sons of Tony Stark, genius billionaire who built the Iron Man armor from scraps in a cave, there was no way that Joe wasn’t smart. If he was so inclined, Jamie was sure that he could have taught all the science classes at school and probably do a better job at it than their actual teachers. 

And he was so, so beautiful. The most beautiful Omega Jamie had ever seen in his short 17 years on this Earth. His blue eyes framed by black clunky glasses, those mesmerizing ice blue orbs that sometimes followed Jamie to his sleep, and that blonde hair, soft spun and shining like golden strands in the sunlight. Jamie sighed wistfully just thinking about it. It seemed that Joe inherited the best of both of his parents. His smile was soft and kind hearted, like Captain America, and with a touch of mischievousness in them like Tony Stark. At five-eleven, he was tall, probably the tallest Omega Jamie had ever met, but that only made him even more perfect in Jamie’s eyes. With Jamie’s own six foot two inches stature, he was pretty tall for an Alpha too. When he used to date Cheryl Feinberg, he had to bend down pretty far just to hug or kiss her, which sometimes gave him a crick in the neck or back. But with Joe, if they were to embrace Joe’s face would be perfectly nestled in the crook of his neck. Jamie flushed at the thought, hoping desperately that it didn’t show on his face. It would be pretty embarrassing to be blushing like a weirdo in front of his own locker. 

Jamie sighed. Just a couple of feet away was the object of his musings, sitting cross legged on the floor in front of his own locker, eyes glued to the StarkPad in his lap and fingers swiping at the screen. In front of him his little brother, Peter Rogers, was chattering away in Italian, arms gesticulating the way it was wont to do when talking. Jamie chuckled softly, The Rogers Boys were pretty amusing to him. Their names were ethnically Irish but as far as Jamie could tell they didn’t speak a lick of Irish but was fluent in Italian. He heard that Tony Stark had insisted on raising his sons with Italian as their first language as an homage to his late mother. Before Ulysses Rogers graduated, the three of them could be found talking away in Italian during lunch break or in between classes. 

“You’re sighing again,” a voice from his left pulled his attention away from Joe and Peter. Jamie’s best friend and fellow football player Aaron Stevenson was next to him, arms crossed in front of his chest and leaning against the closed lockers next to Jamie’s opened one, “I recognize that as your ‘Joe Rogers’ sigh. Why can’t you just go up to him and tell him you like him, man? What’s the worst that could happen?” 

“Uh, he might laugh at the dumb jock who thinks that he’s good enough for someone as smart and amazing like him, and then I will have to quit school which will lead to me losing my football scholarship and then I’ll end up living in my parents’ basement for the rest of my life, selling Herbalife supplements and going into massive debt because that will be the only thing I’m good at in life.” 

“Obviously you’ve given this a lot of thought,” Aaron deadpanned. He looked unimpressed at Jamie’s explanation. 

“Obviously.” 

“Well I’m telling you, you’re wrong. First, you’re as much as a dumb jock as yours truly, which is to say not at all. What kind of dumb jocks will be representing Midtown High in the New York Science Olympiad?” 

“The only reason we’re representing the school was because Joe and Peter aren’t in the Science Olympiad team and would be in DC for the Decathlon.” Jamie elaborated.

“Secondly,” Aaron interrupted, “Lover boy over there is looking back at you. And I gotta tell you, he is looking fine today. The Black Sabbath shirt totally brings out the blue in his eyes.” 

“What!” Jamie could feel the back of his neck starting to heat up, “lead with that, you asshole! Is he-- is he still looking this way? Yeah, the Sabbath shirt looks good on him, but I kinda like the Tool shirts better.” Jamie rubbed the back of his neck subconsciously, his eyes taking on that dreamy look on them again. 

“Wow, your infatuation is worse than I thought. I’ve never seen you like this before and I was around for the beginnings of your puberty and when you discovered Astronomy. No, he’s talking to Peter again now. But I saw his eyes flickered up for like, 0.05 microseconds. So he must have thought your sorry ass was worth peeling his eyes away from his StarkPad.” 

“We hit puberty at the same time, you dick. It was a weird time for everyone involved.” Jamie grumbled, “it’s for nothing anyway. What would he want with some middle class guy from a blue-collar family when he’s basically inheriting the most successful tech company in the world?” 

“I don’t think that matters to him. I mean, Captain America and the Winter Soldier were like us. They were regular blue collar working guys from Brooklyn. Surely he would have taught his kids better than that. It’d be kind of hypocritical to forget where you came from, right?” 

Jamie sighed. He knew he was just spouting some bullshit excuses, but the truth of the matter was he was _scared_. He’d known Joe for years, they went to the same elementary school and middle school together after all, and now they’re in the same high school. For years they have been coexisting separately, like two planets with different orbits, destined to never intersect each other but somehow something changed and now they were on a collision course. 

Joe plagued his every thought. Their brief interactions throughout the years only seem to solidify Jamie’s affection for him, made him crave Joe more, made him want to know him better. Jamie knew he couldn’t go on like this forever, hiding his feelings and admiring the most wonderful Omega he might ever know in his whole life from afar, missing his chance because of his cowardice. Jamie decided then that he should take a chance, it was now or never. Aaron was right, what was the worst that could happen? 

Jamie just hoped that it wouldn’t end in heartbreak. He had a feeling Joe Rogers would be a tough act for anyone to follow. 

* * *

“ _He’s staring at you again, Bubbles. That’s the third time this week._ ” Peter whispered to him as they waited for first period to start in front of Joe’s locker. Joe didn’t have to look up to know who Peter was talking about. The thundering beats of his own heart that Peter undoubtedly would be able to hear because of his newly enhanced senses betrayed the impassive countenance on Joe’s face and broadcasted just how Peter’s words affected him. 

Jameson Wilde. Jamie. The heir to Ulysses’ legacy at Midtown High School and the bane of Joe’s existence. Joe was still deciding whether that was a good thing or bad thing. 

“ _He’s probably just looking down the hallway for a cheerleader to make out with._ ” Joe replied, fingers tapping at the StarkPad in his lap. Peter had asked him for his input on his spider web formula. It’s a fascinating project to be sure, but Joe was finding it hard to concentrate. Now that Peter pointed it out to him, the weight of those violet eyes on him, so rarely seen on a person, made Joe hyper aware of everything around him. 

“ _You can’t still be upset at him for dating Cheryl Feinberg. That was three years ago._ ” Peter said exasperatedly, “ _Y_ _ou didn’t even know you like him back then_.” 

“ _Him dating that vapid cheerleader gave me an epiphany, though. And I never said I’m rational when it comes to matters of the heart_.” Joe grumbled, irrationally annoyed with himself for being so. 

“ _Well, Babbo always said that when it comes to Papa and us, his common sense flew out the window._ ” 

Joe shrugged in acknowledgement. One of the most prevailing stereotypes of an Omega was how nurturing and maternal they all were. But as Joe witnessed first hand, when provoked an Omega could be even more vicious than an Alpha or Beta. A couple of years back, there was a kidnapping attempt on him and Peter. When the Avengers finally rescued them, it took Uncle Sam, Uncle Clint and Uncle Bucky to hold Babbo back to stop him from repulsoring the shit out of their kidnappers. At least the ones that escaped Papa’s wrath. 

“ _t’s never gonna happen, okay Peebee? Best to just leave it alone. What would someone like him want with me? He’s the whole package: brains and brawn. He could have anyone he wants. Case in point: blonde cheerleader extraordinaire Cheryl Feinberg. Then there’s the Captain of the gymnastics team Lana Lang and Klaus Weller the exchange student from Germany who was so smoking hot every Omega in school went into heat because of him.”_ Peter scrunched up his nose in disbelief at Joe’s exaggeration, “ _Point is it’s never gonna happen. I will be alone for the rest of my life, be the cool uncle to your and Ulysses’ children, probably adopt a bunch of cats and dogs that will eventually eat my decrepit body. So let’s just focus on your webshooters. I think if we can modify the ratio of the solvent to emulsifier, we can get the right viscosity and make the webs stickier and shoot even further.”_

_“I recognize that this is a diversion from talking about your massive crush on Jamie but I do want to improve my web designs so I’m gonna let it slide for now.”_ It had been three months since Ulysses and Joe discovered Peter’s Spiderman alter ego. Peter had begged his older brothers to not say anything to their parents, insisting that this was something that he had to do, now that he has this awesome powers and abilities in his hands, it was his responsibility and his calling in life to use it to help people. His older brothers relented, persuaded by Peter’s heartfelt pleading. They did have two conditions though. First was that Peter would not hide any injuries that occurred during his nightly patrols even though it would heal with Peter’s enhanced healing. Their second condition was that Joe and Ulysses would be redesigning Peter’s costume and web shooters. They had been apoplectic once they realized that their baby brother was swinging through Manhattan in a ski mask, tights and subpar web fluid. 

Amazingly, their parents, uncles and aunt still haven’t found out that Peter was the masked vigilante that had been occasionally helping them in their fights. That either said something about how good the boys were at keeping secrets or how oblivious the Avengers were. As Peter bent down to look at the new modifications and calculations Joe had made to his web fluid, Joe surreptitiously glanced at the boy that have plagued his thoughts from the moment he knew how it was to feel for someone. 

Jamie was talking with his friend Aaron and other football players that have congregated around his locker, the football team captain’s locker. They were clearly joking with each other from the raucous laughter than Joe could hear from his spot in the hallway. Jamie had his back to him and Peter, and if Peter didn’t tell him that Jamie was looking at him a couple of minutes earlier, Joe wouldn’t have believed that the boy ever spared a thought for Joe in his mind. 

They had known each other all their lives, it seemed. They were in the same elementary and middle school together before high school. Joe didn’t know when he started looking at Jamie, all that he knew was that he became gradually aware of Jamie’s presence in his life and each year it grew. Their interactions were short and infrequent, composed mostly of nodding to each other as they passed in the hallway; Jamie helping him get a book down from the highest shelf in the library; Jamie executing a flawless play, zig zagging through hordes of ravenous football players seeking to stop him; Jamie winning a chess game against a classist chess Grandmaster that visited their high school for career day, looking down on them all the while for being educated in the public high school system, Jamie telling him solemnly “Thank you, Sir” as he checkmated the man. But what cemented Jamie’s hold in Joe’s heart and mind was his kindness and how inherently good he was. A long time ago, he defended Joe against bullies who thought he was too opinionated for an omega. Joe would never forget how Jamie stood up for him, those purple eyes shone brightly like potassium chloride set on fire with fury and indignation on Joe’s behalf. They were only nine years old then, Joe had just presented as an Omega and his whole life had just changed. From that moment on, Joe knew he had found the right partner. 

The question remained: was he the right partner for Jamie too? Only time would tell. 

* * *

Peter was on patrol in Williamsburg that night. It was pretty uneventful as far as patrol night went. There was only one cat stuck up a tree which Peter easily rescued and delivered back to the loving arms of the nine year old girl who owned him. There was a false alarm for a car thief which turned out to just be some dude who was tipsy and was looking for his keys. It turned out the bartender took his keys when it looked like he was on the verge of intoxication and had called him an Uber, so Peter decided to wait with the guy until the Uber came, listening to drunk guy lament on the sorry state of his love life, chiming in every now and then with words of consolation. All in all, it was a pretty successful night of patrol. 

He had just texted Joe that he was on his way home when he heard the scream. In an instant, Peter shot his web to the nearest building, swinging his way to the direction of the scream, arriving just in time to witness a mugging in progress. The would be mugging victim, a blonde lady in scrubs clutched at her purse and stared defiantly at the mugger. Peter inwardly slow-clapped and saluted the lady for not showing an ounce of fear in the midst of a harrowing situation. 

Peter made quick work on the mugger, snatching the knife from his hand with his web and pinning the guy to the side wall of the alley and strung him up with his web. “Are you alright, Ma’am?” Peter asked her afterwards. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you so much, Spiderman,” the lady said, “I was so afraid of what would happen. He had a knife and I left my pepper spray in my other purse. Thank God for you, Spiderman.” 

“Just doing what needs to be done, Ma’am,” Peter chirped in cheerfully. This was why he did this. Helping people and making them feel safe was all the thanks he needed. 

“Oh my, but I didn’t realize...you sound so young.” the lady observed, brow furrowing in concern.

“Pardon?” Peter squeaked, only highlighting just how young he was, “I mean, pardon?" Peter purposefully deepened his voice. 

“How old are you? Fourteen? Fifteen? You seemed to be my son’s age.” 

“No, no. I’m old. I’m, like, twenty five?” Twenty-five was old, right?

“Oh honey, I have a seventeen year old son and you don’t sound a day over fifteen,” Nice Blond Lady smiled indulgently at Peter, “I understand you have a secret identity to keep, so I won’t say anything.” she winked. 

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Peter sighed in relief and Nice Blond Lady chuckled softly. 

“Mom, Mom, where are you?” a frantic voice sounded from their proximity. 

“Oh, I think that’s my son,” Nice Blond Lady said excitedly, “Sweetheart, sweetheart over here!” she called out. Moments later, the owner of said voice bounded in to the alleyway where they were standing. Peter absently noted that the thick brown hair and the handsome face looked familiar, but then again the guy did have one of those ridiculously proportional faces you would see on TV. But hey, those purple eyes were something you didn’t see everywhere. In fact, only one person Peter knew had eyes like that. And it was...

“Jamie!” Peter squeaked out, not expecting to see his schoolmate and his big brother’s forever crush standing in front of him. Nice Blond Lady was Jamie’s mom. Oh God. It was a small world, after all. 

Jamie’s brow furrowed in confusion when he heard his name came out of Spiderman’s mouth, “Wait, Spiderman? How do you know my name?” 

“Uh, your mom called you that,”

“No, she didn’t. She hasn’t said my name.” 

Jamie’s mom, Mrs. Wilde, shook her head in support of her son’s assertion. 

“Uh…” Peter was blanking out on an excuse, “Didn’t she? I thought she did. You know what, maybe it was the adrenaline, the urgency of the situation making everything seem more intense than it actually was-- you know what, now that you’re here I think it’s safe to say that your mom is in safe hands, right? So I’m gonna go, you guys have a good night and don’t forget to move the pepper spray to your new purse, Mrs. Wilde. I mean-- I don’t know your name! Or your last name! Oh my God, I’m outta here!” with that Peter shot a web upwards, the web picking him up immediately and he left the two confused and flabbergasted civilians. 

“Jamie, what was that all about? How come Spiderman knew our last name? And your name?” Mrs. Wilde looked at her son in confusion. Jamie was silent as he put an arm around his mother’s back and began to walk away from the alleyway and towards their house. 

Jamie’s brain was working on overdrive all the way home. That voice and that rambling devoid of any pause was familiar. There was only one person in the whole wide world who sounded and talked just like Spiderman did. The kid didn’t even bother doing anything to disguise his voice other than the sad attempt of making his voice sounded deeper, which to Jamie just sounded like he was having a sore throat more than anything. 

Because Jamie had no doubt who was behind that mask. And he was going to confront him tomorrow at school. Peter Rogers had some explaining to do. 

* * *

Peter didn’t tell Joe or Uly about the close call on his identity being revealed last night. Uly was in the middle of midterms at Harvard and Joe was already asleep by the time Peter got home. And anyway, Peter handled it just fine. He left before he could blabbed some more about who he was behind the mask. No need to make his big brothers worry over nothing. 

Yeah okay, he didn’t handle it well at all. Hopefully he got lucky and Jamie decided not to do or say anything to him tomorrow at school. 

Peter hastily stripped off his costume, shoving it into the back of his closet and donned his pajamas before slipping into bed, just in time for Babbo to open his bedroom door and peered inside. 

“ _Hi, baby. Ready for bed?_ ” 

Peter nodded, “ _Yeah, Babbo. It’s been a long day. Sleepy now_.” Peter yawned to emphasize his point. 

Babbo smiled at him and sat down on his bed next to him, “ _S_ _leep tight, mio polpetto,_ ” he murmured and stroked Peter’s hair, in that special Babbo way that always lull Peter to sleep no matter what, “I’m sorry Papa and I haven’t been around much. These missions keep coming one after the other.” 

“ _It’s okay, we understand. We miss you though,_ ” Peter murmured sleepily, only feeling slightly guilty for being grateful that his parents being busy and away helped him and his brothers keep such a bombshell of a secret from them. 

“ _We miss you too, piccolo, so damn much_.” Babbo pressed a kiss to his forehead, “tell you what, this weekend we have nothing planned, so why don’t we drive up to Cambridge, surprise Ulysses and spend the whole weekend together, just the five of us?” 

“That sounds good, Babbo. Looking forward to it.” Peter nestled further in bed, eyes slipping closed at the gentle ministration of his father’s hand on his hair. 

“Good night, baby. I love you.” 

In his dreams that night Peter dreamed of his family. Papa, Babbo, Uly, Joe and himself having a picnic and the time of their lives. Maybe it was just him, but Peter swore he could feel the bone-deep contentment he felt when he was with them well after he woke up the next morning. He couldn’t wait for the weekend to come. 

* * *

“Hi Peter,” the deep baritone calling out his name stopped Peter in the middle of retrieving his Physics textbook from his locker. He turned around to come face to face with none other than Jamie Wilde leaning against the row of lockers, hands in his pockets and a bland and sort of neutral smile etched on his face. Peter’s newly christened ‘Spidey sense’ didn’t go haywire as it was wont to do whenever there was a threat near. At school those threats usually came in the form of Flash Thompson or one of the meaner jocks and pretty girls, but never from Jamie. Jamie might be a jock but he was always kind to Peter and his group of friends. He never bullied them or call them names and was actually one of the few who stood up for them, telling his fellow football players that bullying was off limits and would result in them getting kicked off the team. 

Peter suspected it might have to do with the surreptitious glances Jamie have been throwing at Joe for the better part of their high school years, but he could be wrong. 

“Hey-- hey Jamie. What’s up?” Peter responded, closing his locker and shouldering his backpack. 

“I want to thank you for last night, for saving my mom. I was worried when she didn’t come home when she was supposed to.” 

Crap, really? Jamie actually wanted to confront him about what happened last night? This was bad. So bad. Uber bad. But when cornered, as Uncle Clint like to say, play dumb. “Uh, what-- what happened last night? Is your mom okay? Who saved her?” 

“Really, Peter?” Jamie’s left eyebrow arched in disbelief, “We really gonna do this? I know it was you, Peter. First you said my name, then proceed to ramble about it like there’s no tomorrow. Then you called my mom Mrs. Wilde, plus there’s no ignoring the fact that you tried to make your voice sound deeper but it only made you sound like that time you had a sore throat from strep infection. Also now that I have a chance to see you in broad daylight, Spiderman looks to be about your height and build. Am I wrong, Peter?”

Out of options, Peter did the only thing he thought would preserve his superhero secret identity in the midst of the milling of their many classmates walking through the hallway: dragging Jamie by the arm to an empty classroom in an impressive show of his enhanced strength.

“Whoa!” Jamie exclaimed, looking at Peter askance and in awe, “okay, you just proved my point. How strong _are_ you?” 

“You’re not supposed to know,” Peter whined, “nobody was supposed to know.” he paced back and forth in the empty classroom, muttering to himself, “Uly and Joe are gonna kill me. It’s bad enough that they worry every night when I go patrol the city but to have you, a civilian, know my secret identity is just bad to the power of infinity.”

“Wait, Joe and Ulysses know?” 

“They’re my protective older brothers, of course they know. And predictably freaked the fuck out when they found out and made me promise to keep my identity a secret. Which I apparently have been shit at doing because one encounter with you and I blew my own cover.” Peter grumbled. 

“Well if it makes you feel better, I think the only reason I figured you out is because you squeaked out my name last night. Just be careful not to do that with anyone else though,” Jamie chuckled at Peter. 

“You’re not gonna tell anyone, are you?” Peter looked at him with such a hangdog expression that Jamie was helpless not to assure and comfort the younger boy. 

“Don’t worry, Peter, your secret’s safe with me.” Jamie solemnly promised him, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the trees, does it?” 

Peter laughed and self-consciously rubbed the back of his neck, “I mean, I didn’t exactly went out seeking superpowers, you know. It kinda happen accidentally. You remember that field trip to Oscorp?” 

“Uh huh.” 

“When we were there I sorta kinda got bitten by one of the radioactive spiders they were working on in the transgenic facilities and now I have spider-like qualities…” Peter trailed off. 

“You’re part spider now?” Jamie repeated warily. 

“Kinda.” 

“Well, aliens invade the city on a daily basis so I guess you being sorta kinda part spider isn’t that weird.” Jamie shrugged. 

“And one of my godfathers is an alien too, so it’s just another Wednesday in the Rogers household.” They laughed for a bit before Peter solemnly said, “Thanks, Jamie, for keeping my secret. You’re a good guy, I guess now I see why Joe is so head over heels for you.” Peter clapped his hands in front of his mouth the moment he realized what just came out of it, eyes wide with the realization that he just blabbed his big brother’s deepest secrets to the one person who was never supposed to know about it. 

Jamie was looking at him with wide eyes, speechless at Peter’s exclamation. “Wait, Joe is-- he said that? Peter, did he say that?” 

“Did I say head over heels? I meant head over feet. Although technically that would have been the same thing, but--” 

“Peter, Peter, focus!” Jamie grabbed him by the shoulders to still the younger boy’s frantic, jerky movement, “Peter, listen to me. Joe said that he liked me?” Jamie asked again, a little timid and hesitant as to what Peter’s answer would be. 

Peter gave him one of his _duh_ looks, “You two are probably the only people in this whole school who don’t know that you like each other. You look at Joe every time he wasn’t looking and Joe looks at you when _you_ aren’t looking. It’s like a really frustrating game of hide and go seek.” 

Jamie felt his heartbeat speed up as he listened to Peter expounding the details on Joe’s feelings for him. It wasn’t unrequited after all! Or at least not as unrequited as he thought it was before. There might be a chance for him to ask Joe out, to be close to the only Omega he’d ever fallen for. 

“I mean he can deny it all he wants but he was super upset when you started dating that cheerleader. Everybody in the family thought he was being morose because some knothead asshole said some mean words to him, but really, it was because he saw Cheryl Feinberg changed her relationship status on Facebook from ‘single’ to ‘in a relationship’ with you. I think he’s still upset, actually.” 

“Joe was upset because of that? But that was three years ago. And we already broke up!” Jamie wondered out loud. 

“He can be petty AF and holds grudges,” Peter dismissed it, “He still harps on Uly for breaking his homemade telescope, and that happened twelve years ago.” 

“Yikes. But, but he still likes me, though? You said so.” 

“He still looks at you the way my parents look at each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking, so yeah it’s pretty safe to say that he still likes you.” 

“Wow.” Jamie felt powerless from the earth shattering revelation that Peter just blabbed out to him. He never thought, not in a million years, that Joe would have reciprocate his feelings or that he would feel the same way that Jamie felt for him. He wasn’t imagining things, wasn’t imagining this gravitational pull, this visceral need to be near Joe. Joe, according to Peter, felt the same way and has been since at least three years ago. “I thought it was just me. I thought it was wishful thinking leading me to believe that I might have a chance with Joe. I mean, Joe is Joe, y’know. He’s so awesome and sweet and kind and so, so smart. And pretty…”

“Funny, ‘cause that’s what Joe says about you,” Peter cheekily replied, “Except he doesn’t call you pretty. You’re the ‘embodiment of High Renaissance male beauty ideal and that Michaelangelo’s _David_ would look better if he used you as the model’, and that’s a direct quote. He will kill me when he finds out I tell you this but whatever, I’m dead anyway for letting you know my secret identity.” 

“I’m not-- I’m not all those things, Peter, come on,” Jamie tried futilely to rein in the blush that was no doubt spreading across his face, though he was ridiculously pleased that Joe thought all those wonderful things about him. For Jamie, Joe was all of that and more. “I’m just glad he has more than a passing thought about me.” 

“Are you kidding?” Peter rolled his eyes, “I think if Joe’s inner thoughts were ever broadcast it would go something like _math robots Jamie Jamie Jamie science science Jamie Jamie Jamie._ ” 

“You’re exaggerating,” Jamie smiled indulgently at Peter, “but I do want to ask, Peter, for your permission to date your brother. I-- well, I guess there’s no other word for it, but I love your brother. I know it might sound trite and corny, we’re still in high school, what do we know about love, right? But I know deep down in my heart of hearts that he’s it for me.” 

“Oh, wow,” it was Peter’s turn to be speechless. “I mean, Joe’s his own person, the only permission you need to ask is his. But yeah, I really think you can make him happy. Make each other happy.” Peter grinned at him. 

“Thanks, Peter.” Jamie hugged Peter tightly, “I promise, I’ll do right by him.” 

‘Do right by him?’ Peter mouthed silently. Jamie was a bit old fashioned it seemed. Kinda like Papa. “I’m sure you will.” Peter finally said. 

“I should probably start talking to him, shouldn’t I?” 

“That would be a good idea. You can’t have a relationship without communication. Or maybe you can, if you’re one of those couples who thrive on dysfunction, or if you’re both mute. Nothing wrong with that, to each their own, you know?” 

Jamie laughed again, his continuous exposure to Peter’s ramblings has endeared him to them. Peter was like the little brother he never had, being an only child. And Jamie found that that was something he looked forward to. 

* * *

Peter was acting weird. Weirder than usual, which was saying something. It also didn’t help that before third period started, Ned said he saw Peter and Jamie disappeared into an empty classroom, and then they were apparently late for their respective classes. Joe had been waiting all morning to corner Peter and asked him what that was all about, but alas this semester the only class they shared together was PE, and it wasn’t scheduled until later in the day. 

But they did have lunch break together. 

Joe strode up to Peter who was already sitting at their usual table with Ned, eating his usual lunch for three. Ever since his transformation, Peter was always hungry. Joe theorized that his little brother now has the same enhanced metabolism as Papa. He wasn’t satisfied with the usual double portions at dinner, some days he could even out eat Papa and Uncle Thor. 

What’s interesting today was that their usual table had additional people, people who usually sit on the other side of the cafeteria where all the other football players and cool kids sit, not here. People like Jamie Wilson and Aaron Stevenson, who most definitely had one too many hits in the head from playing football because now they were chatting with Joe’s little brother and Ned like they’ve been besties all their lives. As Joe approached the table with trepidation, he noted that the only empty spot was the chair next to Jamie. 

“Hey guys,” Joe greeted them, and four pairs of eyes snapped up to meet his own, “did I miss something? Have we been transported to a parallel universe where nerdiness and geekdom are the cool thing to be?” 

Jamie chuckled and flashed him a bright smile, and Joe just wanted to say for the record that his heart most definitely didn’t skip a beat. 

“Aww, come on Joe, we’re just being friendly. Plus, Jamie and Aaron here have some really cool suggestions about what we should do for our next Robo deathmatch.” 

“Please don’t call it a Robo Deathmatch. You make us sound like we’re in a cult and you’ll upset the bots.” Joe said as he sat down in the only available chair in the whole table, next to Jamie and close enough to smell Jamie’s deep, comforting musky scent that sometimes followed Joe to his dreams. 

_Get a grip on yourself, Rogers._ Joe hoped against all hopes that his pale Irish skin, courtesy of Papa, wasn’t betraying how much Jamie was affecting him. 

“Hi,” Jamie greeted him after he settled in his seat, a tray of food containing his usual lunch picks of toasted ravioli, marinara sauce, an apple and water was placed in front of him, “Lunch?” 

“I--yes, thank you,” Joe started to dig in to his food, Jamie following suit. Around them the amicable sounds of Peter, Ned and Aaron chatting filled the air around them. Joe could almost believe that this was a regular occurence and not an anomaly. “So what brings you here? I mean, why the sudden change in lunch tables, I thought you have a standing reservation at the jock’s table with the football players and the cheerleaders.” 

Jamie shrugged, “Just wanted a change in scenery. I was talking to Peter earlier in the hallways, and he told me something interesting, something that I very much want to pursue now.” Jamie’s violet eyes twinkled mischievously under the bright fluorescent lights of the cafeteria, locking with his own glacier blue eyes. His charming smile directed at Joe, and he realized that all this time he had been missing out on the full effect of what that smile would make him feel. 

“What was it?” 

“Hmm, I think I’ll just keep it to myself for now. What’s the fun in telling you all the answers? Ain’t you supposed to be a genius?” Jamie teased him, the grin on his face making him look even more handsome to Joe. 

Joe rolled his eyes in fond exasperation, “Fine, be that way. Peter’s just going to tell me later anyway. That kid can’t keep a secret to save his life.” 

“Speaking of life-saving and secrets…”Jamie glanced discreetly at Peter who was gesticulating wildly at Ned and Aaron, “I found out last night that the apple doesn’t fall far from the Superhuman trees.” 

Joe’s spine stiffened at Jamie’s words. What did he just imply? Could it be that he figured out Peter’s big secret? 

“I won’t tell anyone. I swear on my Ma’s life, Joe. I ain’t gonna tell,” he lowered his voice so only the two of them would be privy to the conversation, Jamie’s voice taking on that deeper baritone that made Joe shiver inside, “your secret’s safe with me.” 

Before Joe could respond, the dreaded bell rang signaling the end of the lunch period. Reluctantly, they all packed up their stuff and started heading out to their next classes while Joe remained rooted to his seat, his food still untouched in front of him. He hurriedly snagged the apple and ate the raviolis in three huge bites, Jamie was standing next to him, seemingly waiting for him to finish eating. He remained there until Joe finished, then offered his hand to help Joe stand up from his chair. Getting that same offer from any other Alpha would have made Joe’s ire raise, but from Jamie, it felt natural, like second nature to place his hand in the Alpha’s larger one. 

“Thank you,” Joe murmured to him. 

“Let me walk you to class?” Joe was powerless to say no. And to be honest, he didn’t really want to. 

It was only after he sat down in Physics next to Peter that he realized he didn’t let go of Jamie’s hand as they walked all the way from the cafeteria to Physics class. His right hand felt warm as he could still feel the phantom touches of Jamie’s hand in his. He remembered the warm look and the smile Jamie gave him before they parted and he walked away to English class. 

Two planets would never intersect the same orbit. But when it came to him and Jamie, they just might. 

* * *

After that day, they got closer together. It seemed having to guard Peter’s secret enabled them to finally break down that barrier that has been keeping them from talking to each other. Nowadays, Joe and Jamie could be found eating lunch together, chatting with each other in between periods or before the start of the school day and Jamie without fail would walk Joe to his classes. 

Peter was pretty smug about it all, bragging to Ned that he bagged Joe a boyfriend, which Joe halfheartedly deny in between the blushing and the indignant sputtering. He and Jamie haven’t made anything official, haven’t even talked about what it was that they have. They’re friends, perhaps a little bit more than friends, but not quite in the boyfriend territory yet. Hell, they rarely touched each other. Other than that one instance where they basically held hands as they walked from the cafeteria to Joe’s Physics class, their touches have been limited to Jamie touching Joe’s shoulder before he left for class, or that one time when he touched Joe’s cheek. He didn’t think he stopped blushing the entire day. Auntie Nat even asked if he had a fever when he came home that day. 

It was amazing getting to know each other. Joe learned that Jamie was Brooklyn born and bred. An only child, his father was a firefighter and his mother was a nurse. He was a bit perplexed at first, since Jamie’s life history read just like Papa’s. He thought Jamie taking the piss out of him until the boy shyly admitted that it was all true and that all his life he has looked up to Steve Rogers. Both he and the Captain came from similar working class backgrounds, yet the Captain showed that despite their limitations, or rather _because_ of them, it was possible to achieve great things. Jamie was everything Joe remembered from middle school. That shy, smart boy who wasn’t afraid to stand up to bullies and treated everyone with respect regardless of their orientation. Joe was in trouble. He was falling for Jamie at terminal velocity, and there was no going back. 

And Jamie seemed to feel the same way if the glances, the smiles and the touches he gave Joe were any indication. Joe has been raised by his amazingly loving and supportive parents who never hesitated to show him and his siblings how much they loved their sons, his two brothers were his first and forever best friends, his gaggle of uncles, aunts and cousins completed the picture. Joe never lack of love in his life. He knew how it felt like for someone to love you unconditionally and support you no matter what. But the way Jamie made him feel, it was different. Jamie made him feel like he was the most precious human being on Earth, the only one who mattered to him and the only one that would complete him. 

Joe just wished there was a way to get an answer from the Alpha. But short of just asking him point blank, he didn’t know how else to go about it. What if it was all in his head, and he was making something out of nothing? 

But all of that had to wait until much later because Joe had another problem. It was Thursday, and Peter usually went on patrol during when Joe had his band practice. It was a perfect plan since Papa and Babbo weren’t going to question Peter staying at school later than if he was waiting to go home with Joe after he was finished with practice. The problem with that plan arise when it has been thirty minutes after the end of band practice and Peter was nowhere to be found. 

Which was how Joe found himself pacing back and forth in front of the music room, worried sick for his little brother and staring desperately at his phone, willing it to ring. He tried calling Peter earlier but the boy didn’t pick up. Then, Joe just chalked it up to the boy being in the middle of something urgent during patrol, but now it was starting to become worrisome. 

“Hey, Joe,” Jamie’s voice called out to him in the tone of the classic Hendrix song, and despite his anxiety regarding Peter’s whereabouts, he felt his lips quirked up in a fond smile at the boy approaching, “where you goin’ with that phone in your hand?” 

“Cute. How long did it take you to come up with that?” Joe teased him. 

“It took me all day yesterday and the rest of the morning today. Didn’t even do my Calc homework ‘cause I was so caught up.” Jamie grinned impishly at him, purple eyes twinkling mischievously. 

_Purple haze all around. Don’t know if I’m coming up or down._ Joe thought absently. 

Joe shook his head fondly. One thing he discovered about Jamie was that he was funny and witty. His sense of humor took a bit of getting used to, a self-deprecating and high brow humor that Joe found fascinating. 

“What’s up, Bubbles? Why are you still here, thought you’d be done with band practice by now.” he started calling Joe Bubbles now after Joe told him about how when they were growing up, he and his siblings were pretty obsessed with the Powerpuff Girls and how Ulysses basically assigned them their parts as one of the girls, with Joe as Bubbles, Peter as Buttercup and Ulysses himself as Blossom, the leader. 

“And how would you know that?” Joe asked him, eyebrow quirked up curiously as he realized what Jamie’s words implied. 

“I’m a pretty observant guy for a dumb jock,” Jamie grinned, “and at the risk of sounding like that weird sparkly vampire, I notice everything about you, Joe. You’re the most fascinating person in this school. ” Jamie’s warm smile emphasized the sincerity of his words. 

“Flatterer,” Joe murmured out, his body warm with affection for the boy in front of him. They must have stared at each other like love sick idiots for awhile before Joe remembered why he was still here in the first place, “Um, so, I’m just waiting for Peter. He’s on patrol today,” Joe lowered his voice, cautious of prying ears and eyes though it didn’t seem he should be worried about it since they were the only two people left in the hallway, “But I’m worried. He should have been done by now. I’ve called him but he’s not answering.” 

“Maybe he’s still in the middle of saving the day. Another cat was stuck up a tree or something. Or maybe she found another nice grandma to buy him a churro.” Jamie tried to reassure him. But Joe just had a hunch that it was none of those things. 

“Maybe,” Joe sighed, “but I just have this hunch that something else is going on here.” Joe tapped his phone to unlock it, swiping to the app he had made in the event something like this happened. He tapped a few things to activate it, the phone screen switched to display the interface for the tracking device that he had placed in Peter’s suit. 

“What is that?” Jamie asked, leaning over to better see Joe’s phone. 

“A tracking app. I’ve placed a tracking chip in the lining of Peter’s suit without him knowing it, I’m activating it now. Sort of like lo-jacking a car to figure out where it went.” 

“Okay…” Jamie looked incredulous, “I’m an only child so I have zero reference on how siblings behave with each other, but is this normal sibling behavior?” 

“It is for us.” Joe deadpanned. 

“Right.” 

“Ah!” Joe’s phone beeped, “found him! He’s in...Queens? What on earth is he doing in a back alley in Queens?” Joe wondered aloud. 

“You wanna go there? I have my car with me today.” 

“Please, if you don’t mind. I’m really worried.” 

“Let’s go.” 

* * *

They found Peter lying in a pool of his own blood. Joe scrambling frantically to his little brother’s side, his blood ran cold and his heart seemed to be beating at a thousand beats per minute with how scared he was for him. 

“Peter!” he belatedly realized that he just gave Spiderman’s secret identity away, but at the moment it was the last thing on his mind, “ _Dio mio,_ Peebee…” Joe knelt next to his brother’s unconscious body, eyes scanning him from head to toe to determine where the blood was coming from. He propped up Peter’s head to his lap, placing his fingers on Peter’s neck, trying to find a pulse. 

“God,” Jamie rasped out from next to him, “Is he okay?” 

“I don’t know,” Joe placed his hand on Peter’s heart, relieved to feel the twitching of Peter’s pulse on his fingers, “he’s still breathing,” Joe breathed out. “Oh thank God,” he sighed with relief. 

“We should go,” Jamie squeezed his shoulder as he knelt down, “somewhere warmer so he could rest better.” 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Jamie, would you mind--?” Joe gestured to Peter’s unconscious body, heavy in his lap. 

“Not at all,” Jamie hefted his little brother up like he weighed nothing, carrying him in a bridal carry towards the car. The casual show of Jamie’s strength temporarily distracted Joe from the urgency of the situation, namely Peter being wounded, and emphasized just how far he had fallen for Jamie. 

_Not the time or the place, Rogers. Get a grip on yourself._

They drove back to the Avengers Tower in silence, and by some miracle, there was no one at home. Papa was at the upstate facility along with his uncles and Aunt Natasha, while Babbo was having a Board of Directors meeting with Aunt Pepper, Uncle Happy was with them, ostensibly guarding them but was probably watching a soap opera on his StarkPad while they were having the meeting. Uncle Bruce and Uncle Thor were away at New Asgard, taking Aurora with them to visit her father’s homeland. 

They made quick work of Peter’s suit, Joe noting that it was to be relegated to the incinerator. They saw that the wound originated from Peter’s side, most likely a graze from a bullet or a knife swipe. It was already healing though, Jamie watching in awe as he saw Peter’s skin slowly knit itself back, his blood clotting at an amazing rate to stopper the wound. Joe gingerly prodded the back of his little brother’s head, trying to feel for a head injury. 

“There’s no head injury. I think he passed out from the blood loss,” Joe sighed, “which is even more frightening because it meant that he lost enough blood to cause him to faint, even with his enhanced healing.” He felt the pinpricks of tears starting at the edges of his eyes. It just dawned on him now that he was inches close to losing his little brother. It was now that he realized just how in over their heads Ulysses, him and Peter were. 

After settling Peter in his bedroom, dressing him up in one of his nerdy t-shirts and flannel pajama pants, they went out to the living room. Leaving Jamie in the living room, Joe excused himself for a bit to call Ulysses, updating his big brother on what just happened with Peter and bracing himself for the inevitable fallout and to persuade Ulysses not to panic drive to New York. To say Ulysses tended to overreact would be an understatement. And people said that Omegas were the hysterical ones. 

“Hey, don’t blame yourself, it’s not your fault.” Jamie placed his hand on his shoulder and Joe reflexively leaned back into the warm and comforting presence of the boy, “You knew this could have happened, that’s the reason why you lo-jacked Peter, wasn’t it? You saved him, Joe. He would have been there for hours if it weren’t for you.” 

“We shouldn’t be doing this in the first place. We’re in over our heads, we don’t know what we’re doing. Playing superheroes and thinking everything’s going to be peachy keen since we’re helping people. We should have known better. We’re raised by superheroes, for god’s sakes. If anybody knew the risks that come with this lifestyle, it was us. There was always a chance for injuries, for things going wrong no matter what precautions you take.” 

“Joe, you’ll learn from this. What’s to say Peter won’t be doing this even without your and Ulysses’ helps? Isn’t it better this way? He’ll have more people watching his back, more people in his corner, than doing it all by his lonesome. He’s safer with you watching his back than not. And you know Peter, there’s no way he’s gonna stand idly by, letting his powers go to waste.” 

“With great power comes great responsibility,” Joe smiled sadly, repeating what Peter once told him as his reason for going out to patrol the neighborhood. 

“Exactly. There’s no way he could have done any less. Your parents raised you better than that.” Jamie glanced around the living room, looking at the many family pictures they have in there. The Avengers looked just like any other American family. There was a huge picture above the fireplace with all of the Avengers and the kids in it, a smattering of pictures on the walls featured moments when the boys were growing up. There was a picture taken at Ulysses’ high school graduation, Steve and Tony beaming proudly with their arms around their sons. Joe and Peter grinning mischievously at the camera. There was a painting that captivated Jamie’s attention from the moment he entered the living room. It was a painting of a pregnant Tony Stark in profile. He was looking down affectionately at a little brown haired boy who had his small arms around his father’s distended stomach. The boy’s face was turned to the viewer, one of his ears were plastered to the bump on his father’s stomach, he seemed fascinated by whatever he was hearing. The little boy was obviously Ulysses, the only question was who was Tony Stark carrying: Joe or Peter?

“Thanks, Jamie.” Joe’s voice pulled him back to the present, “having someone to share this secret with...it’s more than I could have asked for. It makes things easier. And thank you for being here. I don’t think I can be alone right now.” 

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” 

Jamie said those words with such conviction. Joe could feel the love and affection in his voice, those violet gaze searing with how intense it seemed to be gazing at him. Joe was 95% sure that just one shift in their posture was gonna light the whole thing up on fire. But Joe was curious guy, his curiosity once led to him adding water to sulfuric acid even after he knew that it would cause a highly exothermic reaction that would flame up the acid. The resulting explosion was frightening, yet exhilarating, fascinating and left an indelible mark on him for the rest of his life when some of the exploding acid splashed onto his left arm.

Would the same thing happen if he and Jamie were to mix like sulphuric acid and water? There’s only one way to find out. 

Jamie felt the soft hands on his cheeks, he didn’t expect to feel the soft press of Joe’s lips on his, however. It was better than he ever imagined. Joe was soft and pliant in his arms, his scent filling up Jamie’s every senses, filling up each and every empty space he didn’t knew existed within him or around him. 

At that moment, he was complete and he knew without a doubt that they were simply meant to be. 

They weren’t two planets on different orbits, destined to never intersect the other’s path. They were two fusing nuclei, contracting and releasing energy to create a Supernova of incandescent luminosity. 

And that’s not Jamie being a hopeless romantic, that’s just physics. It’s inevitable and undeniable. 

* * *

“I can’t believe you got a boyfriend over my wounded body,” Peter whined at him as they walked to their lockers. 

“Say it louder why don’t you? I don’t think the people who hasn’t come to school yet heard you.” Joe grumbled at his little brother. He might look annoyed, but inside he was preening with happiness at Peter’s words. It’s still unbelievable to think that he and Jamie finally took the plunge and that they were boyfriends now. 

“See, I told you, you just had to take a leap. He totally likes you too, there was a zero to none chance of you being rejected by Jamie. Am I good on the matters of the heart, or am I good?” 

“If you’re so good, then are you gonna ask Liz to homecoming next year? I heard she’s gonna be in the Homecoming committee.” Joe asked slyly. 

Peter blushed, “Well, I don’t know. I mean, Liz is so popular, the probabilities of her not having a date already is slim to none. So you know, I should just not think about that.” 

“You know, Peebee, you should start taking your own advice. Just take a leap of faith.” Joe told him kindly. He spotted Jamie by his locker talking with Aaron, but when Jamie spotted him and Peter, he said something to Aaron and headed their way. 

“Hey guys,” he sidled up next to them, casually resting his hand on the small of Joe’s back, “good morning. Peter, how are you feeling?” 

“Ah, I’m okay. All good now. Joe said I have you to thank for getting back home in one piece. So thanks for that!” 

“Glad to hear it, Pete. And how are you this morning?” he asked Joe, beaming like a lovesick idiot, though Joe suspected he looked much the same right now. 

“Good. Emotionally wrung out from having to convince Ulysses not to drive down here in the middle of the semester just to check up on Peter.” Joe sighed leaning into Jamie’s warm body. 

“Yeah, we had to videocall him this morning to reassure him that everything’s fine. He still insisted on coming down this weekend, though.” Peter added. 

“Alphas,” Joe rolled his eyes teasingly, “Always so hysterical.” 

“Hey, not all of them. I’m always calm and collected.” Jamie interjected. 

“Whatever you say,” Joe patted his cheek affectionately and they went back to staring at each other like lovelorn idiots. 

“I almost like it better when you guys were still staring at each other from across your lockers,” Aaron said from behind Peter, “they’re gonna be insufferable like this, trust me.” 

“Oh I know,” Peter concurred, “it’s been hardcore pining for the last nine years. It’s like the floodgates have busted open now and they’re making up for nine years of not being able to be disgustingly sweet with each other.” 

“We can hear you, you know?” Jamie told them, pulling Joe close to him and started them on a trek to their homeroom class. 

“Yes, we meant for you to hear it. We’ve been suffering for your love, you owe us this.” Aaron piped back. 

“ _You’ve_ been suffering? What about us?” 

“You only have yourself to blame for being an idiot who didn’t take my and little Peter’s advice.”

“Just because I’m shorter than you doesn’t mean I’m little,” Peter protested. 

“Kid, that’s _exactly_ what ‘little’ means.” 

Joe laughed at their banter. If this was what the rest of high school, and dare he say, life would be, Joe was more than happy to live with it. 

* * *

Peter had patrol that afternoon, though he cut it short because he still wasn’t feeling too good after what happened yesterday. He arrived home that evening before the sun went down, expertly dropping down into his room and finding Joe lounging on his bed. He was on his phone texting, a dopey smile on his face which meant he saw texting Jamie. Peter rolled his eyes fondly. He was glad Jamie and Joe finally got his act together. Joe always acted like he didn’t need anyone and that it wasn’t bothering him to see the guy he liked dating other people. But Joe looked happy now, like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders and he could breathe and live easier. 

“I never realized how dopey you would look when you’re in love,” Peter commented. 

“Then you’ve never seen Papa and Babbo look at each other. Where have you been, Peebee?” Peter snickered at his brother, “You should change outta that outfit soon. Papa and Babbo are home early and they wanted to go out for dinner.” 

“Nice. Where are we going?” 

“Hello Saigon. I want Vietnamese tonight.” 

“You _always_ want Vietnamese.” 

“True.” Joe shrugged in agreement. 

Peter had just taken his mask off when his bedroom door opened and his parents walked in, oblivious to what waited for them on the other side. 

_Not again..._

“Peter honey, ready for din...ner…” Papa trailed off in the middle of his question. Next to him, Babbo’s mouth hung open, speechless and shocked at what he was seeing. 

“Peter, why do you have the Spiderman suit on? Please tell me that’s going to be your halloween costume and not what I think it is.” Babbo said faintly. 

“Uh…” Peter wracked his brain desperately to come up with excuses, anything to take the heat off him. His eyes flickered back and forth looking for inspiration when his eyes caught on the flashing light of Joe’s phone indicating a new message received by the phone. 

“Joe has a boyfriend!” he shrieked out.

“Peter!” Joe yelled in outrage. His little brother just threw him under the bus! Unbelievable! 

“What…” Papa looked like he was about to cry. 

“Both of you, in the living room! Now!”   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter's a little shit. But he's the cutest, most adorkable lil' shit ;)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fallout...

“JARVIS, call Ulysses now!” Tony bellowed out his command as he frogmarched his two sons into the living room, Steve following sedately behind him. His poor mate looked shell shocked, this was the most unnerved Tony has ever seen him and Tony saw him in the aftermath of Thanos’ attempted invasion of Earth a couple of years back. 

Tony’s boys sat on the couch. Peter was fidgeting, looking guilty as hell and still wearing his poor excuse of a superhero suit. Tony’s head hurt just looking at it. He was already thinking about the changes he will definitely make to it to make sure it was safer. Oh hell, he’s just gonna toss that one to the incinerator and made Peter a new one. Preferably one based off of the nanotech. Meanwhile Joe just looked annoyed, whether it was because he was getting a stern talking to or because Peter just outed him to him and Steve for having a boyfriend, Tony wasn’t sure. 

Standing next to him, Steve was starting to pull himself together. He looked so shocked and affected by what was happening, Tony felt for him. Joe and Peter were his two Omega boys, and as their Alpha sire, Steve’s overprotective tendencies tended to go haywire when it came to them. Tony gently squeezed his shoulder, offering comfort with his touch. Steve acknowledged it with a slight nod of his head and a solemn look in his eyes, looking to Tony for some reassurance. Tony laid his head on Steve’s shoulder and gently pressed a kiss to his shoulder. They’d deal with this together, like always. 

“Master Ulysses is on the line, Sir,” JARVIS announced. 

“Good. Put him on video call mode.” Ulysses’ confused face was projected on the holograph. Behind him a gaggle of students gathered around a station of laptops, egging each other on as the people typing frantically around the laptop took shot after shots. 

“Where are you? Are you at a frat party? You said you have midterms!” Tony demanded, squinting at the scenery behind his son. 

“Yeah!” Ulysses trailed off, “I’m at a study group...” 

“Boy, you better stop lying to me and your Papa or I will fly up there and tan your hide.” Tony told him. 

“Okay, okay, I’m at a hackathon! The midterms were too easy, it’s boring. I need something to distract myself with. These people can’t code their way out of a wet paper bag sober, and they’re supposedly here to study computer science.” 

Tony felt Steve sighed tiredly next to him, “You better be winning or I’ll be donating your inheritance to the Trump Foundation.” 

“Of course I’m winning. It’s like taking candy from a baby. You don’t have to be mean. And if you have to give away my inheritance, please give it to the ACLU,” Ulysses grumbled, “Anyway, what is going on? Why’d you told JARVIS to call me?”

“It has come to our attention that Peter is apparently Spiderman and Joe has a boyfriend.” Steve told his oldest son, watching him closely for his reaction and he did not disappoint. 

“You have a boyfriend?!” Ulysses exclaimed, looking incredulously at Joe, “Who?!” 

“Oh, so all this time you’ve known about your youngest brother being a masked vigilante that swings about the streets of New York in tights and just what? Forgot to tell us?” Tony exclaimed, hands flailing and gesturing like the angry Italian parent that he was, “You’re the oldest one. You’re supposed to be the most mature one.” Tony told Ulysses, “Unbelievable! Betrayed! By my own flesh and blood! All of you are grounded until the day you die!” Tony yelled out, “Or until the day I die, whichever comes first!” 

“Um, okay…” Ulysses said in confusion, “how does that gonna work though? I’m away at school.” 

“Tony, calm down,” Steve said calmly, always the voice of reason, “I’m sure the boys have a good reason for their actions. Reasons that they’ll be telling us right now.” Steve’s tone implied that if they did anything to the contrary, heads would roll.

“Can’t wait to hear what that would be,” Tony muttered, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

“Peter, sweetheart, what happened?” Steve asked again, directing everyone’s attention to Peter. 

“I-- it was during the field trip to Oscorp,” Peter started nervously. Babbo sighed and muttered under his breath “Fucking Oscorp”. Peter glanced at his Papa and saw him gave an encouraging nod to keep going with his story, “And one of their specimens at the transgenic facilities must have gotten out of the cage, it was a spider, and it-- it bit me. The spider was radioactive so then some of its modifications must have gotten transferred to me, so now I’m sorta kinda part spider.” 

“What?” Tony shrieked, “My baby is part spider!” he then rushed to Peter and hugged him to his chest, surprising Peter who let out a squeaking voice, “Wait, you said the spider that bit you was radioactive. What about-- did it affect you?” 

“No, Babbo. There was no trace of radioactivity in Peter’s bloodstream. We checked already. His DNA, however, was altered. There were some sequences in there that don’t align with the human genome but align with the arachnid genome.” Joe explained, “Also, some of the biomarkers on Peter’s blood match the superserum in Papa’s blood. Which makes sense since Peter now has enhanced strength, senses and also healing.” 

“Oh my God,” Papa sat down heavily on the couch next to Joe, he looked dumbfounded by the onslaught of information he and Peter were spilling to him. 

“Peter, baby, why didn’t you tell us?” Babbo asked him hesitantly, “Is it because you don’t trust us? You don't feel comfortable enough to confide in us?” Twenty years in and some remnants of parenthood insecurity still seemed to plague Tony. It was his greatest fear on Earth and his life's greatest failure if his sons were to feel like they couldn't trust him or be reassured enough of his love for them. 

“No, Babbo, of course not. I trust you and Papa both. I wanted to tell you, but later. Much, much later when I’ve already established a name for myself, a reputation so to speak. I was gonna tell you when--” Peter trailed off, unsure of how his parents would react to what he would say. 

“What, baby? You can tell us,” Tony gently encouraged him. 

“When you can be proud of me. I mean, I’m just Peter, the baby of the family. There’s nothing special about me. I’m not popular or inspiring and charismatic like Uly,” Ulysses’ face fell at Peter’s words, “Or smart and pretty like Joe,” Joe looked at his little brother, crestfallen that his little brother ever felt inadequate about himself, “They will be the ones to carry on yours and Papa’s legacies, SI and all the charity and political advocacy stuff, so I’m just trying to find my niche. And-- and being Spiderman lets me do that. I can carry on the superhero part of your legacies. I can make you proud too,” Peter finished gently from the crook of Tony’s arms. Babbo’s arms tightened around him and he felt the warm press of Babbo’s lips on his forehead. 

“Oh honey,” Peter heard Papa said. There were unshed tears in his brilliant blue eyes that Peter always loved, “We are always, always proud of you. It doesn’t matter if you change the world in a blink of an eye, or if you fall flat on your face doing what you love the most. You, Joe and Ulysses are the best parts of your Babbo and I. You don’t have to do anything to make us feel proud of you but to exist. _We_ are the ones who are proud and so grateful to be fortunate enough to be parents to three amazing young men like you all.” 

On the video screen, Ulysses ducked his head in happiness, a small smile spreading across his face, feeling the warmth of affection in his Papa's words. Joe might have teared up a bit there listening to Papa's speech, but damn it always felt good to know just how unconditional your parents' love was. 

“Thanks, Papa.” Peter said before Papa enveloped him and Babbo in a bear hug, Joe joining a few seconds later in their hug pile. Peter reveled in the combined scent of his family, imparting comfort and contentment all throughout Peter’s body. 

“Well, I wish I could be there,” Ulysses said from the video call, he looked wistfully at them, wishing that he was home so he was close to his family. 

“We’re going up there this weekend to ground you, so be ready,” Tony said to his oldest son, his tone grouchy but the smile on his face belied that. 

“Yeah, alright.” Ulysses grumbled. Maybe being away at school was for the best. 

“The point is, you don’t have to do this just to impress us, Peter. The life of a superhero is a dangerous one. Don’t do this, unless it’s really something you want to do.” Papa told him. 

“I do want to do this, Papa. I have to. For some reason, I got this-- this power in me. The power to do something good, something that can make people’s lives better. And if bad things happen on my watch because I choose not to do anything about it when I can, then it’s on me. So I want to do this, Papa, Babbo. I want to help people.” 

“Well, it’s talk like that that makes me sure just how proud we are of you.” Babbo said again, smiling at Peter, “But from now on, you update us on what’s going on with your double life as Spiderman. I see that suit you’re wearing to swing around town and I gotta tell you, kid, you’re giving me a heart attack. You and me are redesigning that suit _pronto_.” 

“And we are going to be training you on the fundamentals of self-defense and strength training. I want to see just how strong you are, Peter.” Papa added to him. 

“Okay, Babbo, Papa.” 

“Uh, hello?” Ulysses said once more from the telephone, “Can we address the other elephant in the room here? You know the part about Joe having a boyfriend. Who is he and when do we get to intimidate him?” Ulysses grabbed their attention again from the video call. 

Joe turned an interesting shade of red at the reminder that he had been outed by Peter in his desperate attempt to shift attention away from his supersecret identity. “You know, we don’t have to talk about it. Peter’s secret identity as Spiderman clearly takes precedence here.” 

“It’s Jamie Wilson from the football team. The quarterback,” Peter piped up, ignoring Joe’s glare at him the whole time. 

“Oh, I know Jamie. Good football player, but I don’t know if he’s good enough for you, Jujubee.” Ulysses looked pensive on the screen, while Joe just exasperatedly facepalmed as he felt a headache coming on. 

“Well, we want to meet this kid.” Babbo said, “Joey, you’re gonna invite him here for dinner one of these days. I’m sure your Uncles and Aunts would be delighted to meet him too.” 

“You know, Babbo, it’s still really early in the relationship. Don’t you think exposing him to the entire family could wait until a couple of months of dating?” Joe tried to plead. 

“Nah, I don’t think so. What do you think, Steve, honey?” Babbo smirked impishly at Papa, and Papa’s gleaming eyes as he smirked back spelled trouble for Joe. 

“Best that we get to know this boy early. You’re right, Tony. Joe, extend a dinner invitation to Mr. Wilde for next week. We’ll be expecting him.” Papa said in his Captain America voice, the one that nobody was able to say no to. 

“Yes, Sir.” 

* * *

JW: where did you go

JW: babe what happened?

JR: my parents found out that peter was spiderman 

JR: we had a family meeting

JR: there was a lot of shouting and threatening hand gestures involved

JW: oh no

JW: were they mad

JR: incensed

JR: but peter worked his magic puppy dog eyes at them and they melted like brown butter 

JR: they will be training peter from now on. Fingers crossed that he won’t get into accidents like the other day again

JW: yeah, hope so. 

JW: glad it worked out. I was so worried

JR: we’re fine. Thanks for your concern 

JR: but there’s something i have to tell you

JR: peter threw me under the bus and told my parents that we’re dating

JR: you are expected for dinner next thursday 

JW: !!!!!

JW: WTH

JW: peter that little blabbermouth

JW: i’m so dead

JR: dont worry you can murder him tomorrow. I will help you hide the body

JW: the avengers are going to murder me before i can murder him 

JR: they’re not gonna murder you, dont be silly

JR: might maul you tho

JR: especially uncle clint. 

JR: and auntie nat 

JR: they’re protective to say the least

JW: well if this were to be my last week on earth then i’m glad i’m spending it as your bf

JR: <3 <3 <3

**Author's Note:**

> Purple eyes can actually occur naturally. One notable individual with purple eyes was Elizabeth Taylor. Her eyes were stunning!
> 
> Please let me know what you think through kudos and comments! 
> 
> Thanks for reading :)


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